Danville Weekly Artist Profile

Old Blackhawk View 14 x 21 Private Collection
This is the view of Mount Diablo from the fire trail behind my neighborhood. It is the first view I painted of Mount Diablo (I've painted it a half dozen times)and I still want to paint it again!

The Danville paper has a regular column profiling artists which I hope will raise awareness of how many great artists live and work locally. We seem to have trouble keeping galleries in business in our town. Of course, in this economy it is happening all over.
The setting around the town of Danville appealed to me years ago when I moved here , because there is a ridge line development ordinance intended to preserve the visual integrity of the open space in the hills around town.
I find it wonderful to be able to look up and see open space wherever I go in town.
This article focuses on my philosophy of creating an original style or voice.
For years I did very tightly realistic still lives of flowers which were satisfying as observational and technical exercises but ultimately ran out of steam.
It wasn't until I found the early California Impressionists works that the engine of creativity fueled a body of work, starting with Mount Diablo and moving outward.

Here is the link to the article:

http://www.danvilleweekly.com/story.php?story_id=6473

Three new Carmel Valley Paintings

Emerald Necklace 14 x 14
Top of the World 14 x 21
Last Light Carmel Valley 12 x 16

Here are three newly finished landscapes all from late spring in Carmel Valley. They were painted from Laureles Grade in the mid day( Emerald Necklace), in the early morning on El Caminito(Top of the World) and late evening near Holman Ranch( Last Light, Carmel Valley). One thing I really enjoy about traveling to paint is the opportunity to explore the lighting conditions pretty much from sunrise to sunset, something that rarely happens at home.